A New America Renaissance Movement based on the ideals of Buddhism - Speaker Series

EL CERRITO, Calif. - Dec. 28, 2015 - PRLog -- A new America, and a new American Renaissance Movement, based upon the ideals of Buddhism - these are the subjects of a new speaker series by author James Hilgendorf.

We commonly think of the foundation of America as originating with the Founding Fathers, and many of us - especially Christian fundamentalists - associate this with a Christian beginning.

But actually the real roots of America reach back to different beginnings argues James Hilgendorf in his books and talks - to the original American Renaissance of our great writers and poets, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Walt Whitman, and to a philosophy and system of thought and ideals that underlay their work and intent which resonated deeply with the ideals of  Buddhism.

In the January 1844 issue of the Dial magazine, the publication of the New England Transcendentalist Club, a translation of the "Parable of the Medicinal Herbs" chapter of the Lotus Sutra, was introduced to the American public.

The Lotus Sutra was the greatest of the Buddhist scriptures, and its very intent and ideals resonated deeply with Thoreau and Emerson and Whitman - the sanctity of all life, the equality of all people, the greatness of both ordinary men and women, the empowerment of the individual, and the existence in daily, down-to-earth life of eternity.

The dream of these great American writers was of an America filled with great individuals, grounded in the realities of the here and now, yet connected to the larger life of the world around them and to the very heart of the universe itself.  They foresaw a great dream for this land of America, a new start in history, and a grand stage upon which the age-old dream of justice and equality and respect of all cultures and people could find its final realization.

Hilgendorf has been practicing Buddhism for forty-three years with the Soka Gakkai International, the largest Buddhist lay organization in the world now, with 12,000,000 members in 192 countries and territories around the globe.  He finds in the Soka Gakkai and its members the embodiment of the same great ideals and dreams for America that was so brilliantly and beautifully expressed by Thoreau, Emerson and Whitman.

James Hilgendorf is a filmmaker, speaker, and the author of ten non-fiction books, opening the way to a new vision of ourselves, a new dream of America, and a new religion for the world.  More information on his work and books and speaking engagements is available on his website at http://www.jameshilgendorf.org